Summary

“Fiddlebacks” is narrated by a young girl living in Texas with her older brother and sister and their mother. The kids have a collection of insects they have found, mostly by simply shaking their shoes out after being outside. The brother desperately wants a (venomous) fiddleback spider, which he plans to put into an unsuspecting person's mailbox as a prank. The kids go out for a walk, passing a man named Stubbs who is working on their mother's car. Stubbs' face is disfigured from a car accident. The narrator notes that her older sister has begun to act distant, and tells jokes she and her brother do not understand. Back at home that night, the kids watch TV, with the narrator holding the antenna so her siblings can see through static. Their mother comes home and cleans up, chiding the children for...